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I have a little problem. I'm addicted to cookbooks, food writing, recipe collecting, and cooking. I have a lot of recipes waiting for me to try them, and ideas from articles, tv, and restaurants often lead to new dishes. I started losing track of what I've done. So now I'm taking photos and writing about what I've prepared—unless it's terrible in which case I forget it ever happened.

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Saturday, October 2, 2010

It’s been a month since we were on vacation. I don’t know where that month went, but in early September I was lounging by a sparkling pool with the hot, bright sun in my face, lazily reading Donna Hay magazine issue 51 to be exact. I cut several pages from that issue and I’ll be mentioning some other dishes soon, but first I have to tell you about these cookie squares. They’re from an article about classic bars, or slices, ranging from lemon to chocolate peppermint, and they all looked delicious. What you see here are the first two I tried which were the filled crumble slice and the ginger crunch slice. In the article, the crumble slice was made with a fresh rhubarb filling. Rhubarb season is long gone here in the northern hemisphere, so I used preserves instead. These weren’t just any preserves though. My friend Stephanie has started a new business called Confituras selling her amazing preserves, jams, pickles, and all manner of confitures. Everything is made with locally sourced ingredients, and if you can’t make it to the farmers’ markets or local shops where jars are sold, you can order online. Her lovely ginger pear preserves were delicious in these crumble bars.

The cookie base was made with sugar, flour, baking powder, egg and melted butter. It was pressed into a pan and baked until golden. I spread twelve ounces of ginger pear preserves over the base and then added the crumble topping made by rubbing cold butter into flour and sugar with your fingertips. It went back into the oven for another 40 minutes. These were rich, little squares, and the bits of pear with ginger flavor in the preserves made a nice fruit layer in the middle.

The second cookie bar, and the one shown below, was called ginger crunch. The base for this one was made more like a pastry crust. Cold butter was pulsed in a food processor into a mixture of flour, baking powder, sugar, and ground ginger until crumbly, and then that combination was pressed into a baking pan and baked for about 30 minutes. Once cool, it was topped with a thick glaze made by melting butter with honey and more ground ginger, and then whisking in confectioners’ sugar. I actually ran out of ground ginger and only had about a teaspoon to use rather than the full one and a half tablespoons suggested for the glaze, so I used a little grated, fresh ginger as well. These squares were crunchier than the crumble bars, and the glaze was rich and buttery and fragrant with ginger. Both of these cookie squares are classics for a reason. They're easy to bake and to serve, and I know I'll be making them both again.

Avanika: I did link to the Donna Hay site, but just noticed the recipes for these two cookie bars weren't found there. So, I found the recipe for the ginger crunch slice on the New Zealand Herald site and linked to it. A similar recipe for the crumble slice is also on that site. That one is slightly different from the version that was in the magazine but looks very much like it. Hope you enjoy!

Both bars look very very good. I'm particularly intrigued by the second version with the ginger glaze, because I have never had a dessert bar with such a spicy topping. I'll visit Confituras website, I bet Stephanie makes some amazing jams!

Thanks for the tip- I have several jars of half eaten preserves that would be perfect to use up in bars. My Aunt plies me with preserves every year and I never make it through all the jars. Besides, using them up will make room to try out some of Confitura's creations. I've got to look her up now that she's at the Triangle market.

I had to read the title a few times before I got it - quite the tongue-twister - but I'd take a large square of each (or either) and a cup of tea, please. Fabulous combination of flavors. We just made a pear torta with honey the other day (we wont be posting it because our baking skills remain for our eyes only!) and I was amazed at how such a subtle fragrance as pear becomes more powerful when cooked, so that it infused the whole thing. I'm sure these are both awesome

Oh dear, when I first read your post and you said it had been a month since your early Sept vacay I though what is she talking about...it hasn't been a month since early Sept. Actually, it has been. wow. Time is really flying by.

I love bar cookies and my mother in law is sending over jars of lingonberry jam...I haven't even finished all of the jars from last summer so I need to get rid of a few jars quick!

as i've always been a wee bit obsessed with cinnamon, i only recently began to appreciate other spices. ginger is creeping up on my list of favorites, and i'd no doubt enjoy both of these bars very much!